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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27303769">pick your pocket (take your heart)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/tinkabelladk/pseuds/cruellae'>cruellae (tinkabelladk)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Persona 5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>#21plusakeshuakehalloween, M/M, no powers au</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 10:29:26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,736</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27303769</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/tinkabelladk/pseuds/cruellae</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Detective Goro Akechi joined the police force young, and tested out of most of the training regimen. Now, he wonders if he should have sat through a few more of the introductory classes. Maybe in one of them, the instructor explained what to do when you catch a pickpocket who steals a kiss and runs off with your heart.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Akechi Goro/Amamiya Ren, Akechi Goro/Kurusu Akira, Akechi Goro/Persona 5 Protagonist</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>165</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>21 plus server halloween event</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>pick your pocket (take your heart)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/reishockey/gifts">reishockey</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>for reishockey and the 21+ akeshuake server halloween exchange, hope you love it!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h3>
  <span>-petty theft- </span>
</h3>
<p>
  <span>Shibuya was always crowded, but today it seemed worse than usual, and somehow malicious, as if the throngs of oblivious shoppers and tourists and businesspeople were actively trying to prevent Goro from getting to the crime scene on time. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>At least no one had recognized him yet. A few high profile arrests and talk show appearances, and suddenly he’d become surprisingly well-known. As the youngest detective on the force, barely out of college, he drew scrutiny and skepticism from his boss, but the public seemed to love that detail. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Unfortunately, his current case was not as easy to solve as the ones that had gained him his fame. He was on his way to a jewelry store on Central Street, the latest in a line of luxury stores to be robbed by the gang that was rapidly taking over all of Shibuya. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They knew that much only because the gang had left a calling card, as they always did. He still hadn’t figured out why the Phantom Thieves announced themselves each time they robbed someone, but the public ate it up. Everyone the Thieves stole from somehow turned out to have some sordid secret the journalists brought to light, and now people were hailing the Thieves as heroes of justice. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Regardless, they were criminals. Goro would see them brought to his own justice. He would—</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A brush of a hand against his hip, too deliberate to be an accidental bump in the crowd, startled him out of his thoughts. He grabbed the offending wrist and jerked, pulling them both into an alcove half-hidden from the main thoroughfare. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Trying to pick my pocket?” he growled. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The would-be thief grinned, mischief dancing in his gray eyes. He was uncommonly pretty, in a sly, almost feline way. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Just trying to get your attention,” he said. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“My attention,” Goro repeated skeptically. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah. Is it working?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Goro still had his fingers closed around the thief’s wrist, and they were standing close together, the thief inching forward to close the distance further. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What do you want?” Goro asked. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The thief smiled. There was something enchanting about it, something almost ethereal. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m your biggest fan, Detective Akechi,” he said. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Goro resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “So what, you want an autograph?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I have inside information,” the thief said. “On the Phantom Thieves. I’m willing to trade it.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m sure you do,” Goro said, placating. He doubted this small time criminal would know anything worth pursuing. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I know who Joker is,” the thief said. “Know him personally.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Now this caught Goro’s attention. Not many people knew the names of the Phantom Thieves—the police had done their best to keep that under wraps to avoid letting the public romanticize them further. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What do you want?” Goro asked. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“A kiss,” the thief replied nonchalantly, as if this wasn’t an incredibly outrageous thing to ask. “Just one,” he added, as though that made it better. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“One kiss.” Goro frowned, although privately he thought it might not be so bad to kiss a thief, if it was one as graceful and lovely as this. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Those are my terms.” The thief leaned forward like he already knew what the answer would be. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Fine,” Goro said, his mouth agreeing before his mind could catch up. “One kiss.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The thief’s lips were on him almost before he’d finished, a soft press against his own. He was expecting a quick peck, nothing too intimate, but the thief moved his lips and Goro couldn’t help but follow, like he’d been led into a dance and was now lost to the music. When the thief licked along the seam of his lips, he opened his mouth and let their tongues slip and twine together. For a moment, his awareness dimmed down to only the sensation of the thief’s mouth on his, their bodies pressed flush together. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And then the thief pulled away. Goro leaned back against the rough wall behind him, eyes closed, breathing hard. When he recovered enough to open his eyes, the thief was gone, disappeared into the crowd. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Bastard,” Goro muttered. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But it could have gone worse. That kiss was something he’d let himself remember later, alone at home. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He stopped by a nearby stand to get a drink, hoping to get the rain-sweet taste of the eager thief out of his mouth. But when he opened his wallet, he saw that all of the cash inside had been taken. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<h3>
  <span>-breaking and entering-</span>
</h3>
<p>
  <span>The Thieves’ Den was a cozy hideout in a mid-rise Shibuya apartment building. Ren was the only one who called it that—the rest of the Phantom Thieves just called it “Ren’s apartment.” But it was a Thieves’ Den, because they had all of their meetings there, plotted all of their best heists draped over the two leather couches and stuffed chairs he’d assembled in the wide living room. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Crime paid pretty well, after all. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The rest of the Thieves came and went as though the place belonged as much to them as to Ren, and that was how he liked it. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Today Makoto was in the kitchen, washing dishes and clucking at him for laziness, while Futaba lounged nearby with her laptop in her lap and Ryuji swiped the remote from the armrest beside her. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Of course I can’t say much about my current case.” Akechi’s voice drifted from the TV, breaking up the monotony of the talk show. “But you have probably heard about the Phantom Thieves who are causing so much trouble in Shibuya lately.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“C’mon, let’s watch something else,” Ryuji said. “I’m sick and tired of this asshole.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“This is important information,” Makoto said, coming to stand behind the couch, arms crossed. “We need to keep tabs on him.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, and Ren is obsessed with him,” Futaba said from behind her laptop. Ren made a face at her and she smirked back. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The tinny talk show music played, the lights around the set blindingly bright. Even so, Akechi was unfairly pretty, even in a nerdy sweater vest and khakis. There was something within his blood-red eyes that drew Joker’s attention, like rubies gleaming enticingly against pale skin. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Don’t tell me, Akechi-kun.” The interviewer leans forward, intrigued. “You’re going to take down the notorious gang?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s always a team effort in cases such as this,” Akechi said graciously, but something like steel flashed in his red eyes. “Rest assured, we will bring Joker and his crew to justice. I promise you that.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Although the crowd applauded politely on the show, there was a chorus of booing and jeering from the assembled Phantom Thieves. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’ll never take us in, asshole,” Ryuji said, and the others agreed, cheering him on. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ren didn’t join in. He couldn’t take his eyes off of the charismatic detective. Akechi had been entirely different in person, and when Ren kissed him, it was as though the plastic, made-for-TV veneer lifted, and he found something else entirely. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Something that challenged and intrigued him, a spark that drew him recklessly. Akechi was a rare treasure, the kind that any thief with an eye to see would covet, and Ren was already plotting a way to steal his heart.  </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Later, after the rest of the team had left, Ren called the number Futaba had uncovered for him from a secure, anonymous cell phone, also procured and modified by Futaba. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes, this is Akechi.” The answer came in a short, annoyed tone, as though Akechi was expecting a telemarketer. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hello Detective,” Ren said. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>There was silence on the other end of the line. Clearly Akechi had recognized him—Ren was flattered that that was all it took. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What do you want?” Akechi finally said. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>I want you. </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But that was too honest to lead with. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I want to see you.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Akechi hesitated again, but this time the pause was calculated, thoughtful. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re a petty criminal, and yet you want to walk right into my trap,” he said. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What can I say? I’d take the bait.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Akechi chuckled, and it sounded weary. Ren wished he could put his hands on Akechi’s shoulders, which always seemed so tense and tight, and rub away some of the exhaustion that had to be weighing the detective down. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He shook his head to clear the strange thought away. This was a game, nothing more. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“When?” Akechi asked, and Ren blinked in shock. He hadn’t expected it to be so easy. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Tomorrow,” he said. “Three o’clock. Shibuya. Come alone, or else I won’t show.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Fine,” Akechi said stiffly. “See you then.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He hung up before Ren could say goodbye. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<h3>
  <span>-the long con-</span>
</h3>
<p>
  <span>At first, Akechi would meet with Ren only to get information on the Phantom Thieves. But Ren managed to win him over, bit by bit, even though it was dramatically different from how he won other people over. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He liked it. He felt like for once, he could be himself—viciously competitive, clever enough to keep up with Akechi, and oddly...happy. When they were together, he felt free. It was a cliche, but he didn’t have any other word for it. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Over the past two months, their rendezvous had become more like dates, playing darts at the Penguin Sniper, wandering through Shibuya, or like now, sitting at the jazz club at Kichijoji, watching the singer sway onstage. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s a beautiful song,” Akechi said, and there was something like melancholy in his eyes. “Do you ever wonder, what if?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What do you mean?” Ren asked. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What if you weren’t a pickpocket? What if I wasn’t a detective?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was an unsettling reminder of just how many secrets Ren kept from Akechi, who thought he was no more than a simple thief on the streets, not the mastermind behind the gang that controlled most of Shibuya. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Akechi was still trying to catch Joker. It had been difficult, and stressed him out so much that sometimes Ren almost wanted to help him in his search, before he realized that would mean jail time for himself.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ren shrugged nonchalantly. “I’m just small time. And who cares about that? When we’re here, it’s just you and me, none of that other bullshit.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He believed that, he really did. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Akechi smiled, small and bitter. “I suppose so.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Something was clearly on his mind, but Ren knew that prying would make him put his walls up immediately. Akechi was more guarded and careful than anyone Ren had ever known, and it had been difficult to get past his defenses. But worth it, so worth it. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ren didn’t figure out what Akechi was thinking about until they were leaving the jazz club, late in the evening. He turned up his collar to block out the cold wind and nearly stumbled when Akechi pushed him gently into a nearby shadowed doorway. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey—” he said, then was interrupted by a kiss. It was rough and passionate, the touch of Akechi’s tongue sending a jolt through him. Akechi pinned him to the wall, pressing his thigh between Ren’s legs, kissing him ruthlessly until he could barely remember his own name.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Come home with me,” Akechi whispered against his lips, and no force on earth could have compelled Ren to say no. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Akechi’s apartment was impersonal, almost like he’d just moved in, although there were no boxes anywhere. There wasn’t much in the way of furnishings, but there was a bed with a sturdy metal headboard and a wide mattress, and that was all Ren cared about. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Akechi moved him across the room with an expert grace, his hands slipping under Ren’s shirt until Ren broke their kiss so he could pull it over his head. Akechi pushed him backwards onto the mattress and he let himself fall. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I do want you,” Akechi murmured, pinning Ren’s arms above his head and leaning in to kiss him again. “I do. If circumstances were different…” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ren wanted to ask what that meant, but then Akechi’s thigh was against his cock, a rough pressure that was exactly what he needed, and he couldn’t help the soft whimper that slipped out of his mouth. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m sorry,” Akechi murmured, almost too softly to be heard. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ren heard a solid click, felt a cold pressure around his right wrist. He tugged, but the other end of the handcuffs clattered against the metal headboard. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He smirked at Akechi. “Kinky.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“If you think law enforcement is kinky, then I suppose so,” Akechi said, running a hand through his hair to smooth it down, getting off the bed just as the door opened and an entire team of cops ran into the small apartment. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ren jerked back, feeling wildly exposed and vulnerable, fear creeping up the back of his spine. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Really, now,” Akechi said disapprovingly, addressing the assembled officers while Ren’s stomach shriveled up to something cold and painful. “You think I’d need this much help with one thief?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We’re not taking any chances,” one of the cops said. “Your scheme was...unorthodox, at best.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Is that really him?” Another cop eyed Ren skeptically, like she’d expected someone a bit more impressive. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes,” Akechi said. “Joker, I’d like you to meet my team.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Well, shit. </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<h3>
  <span>-life sentence-</span>
</h3>
<p>
  <span>Ren had a lot of time to think while he was in jail, but it wasn’t nearly as much time as it could have been. Haru had hired the best lawyers for him, and they’d uncovered several technicalities that drastically reduced his sentence. In addition, Akechi had done a terrible job on the witness stand, forgetting key facts and messing up dates. That was utterly unlike him, or so Ren would have thought. But apparently Ren never even knew him to begin with. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>At first he felt raw and betrayed. But then he watched from the little TV in the prison common area as public opinion turned against Akechi for a police department fuck up that wasn’t even his fault. The talk show hosts who had once been so fond of him now became cruel and harsh, and even though Akechi didn’t do media appearances anymore, his name came up frequently as an object of scorn. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ren could only imagine what it must be like for him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Haru’s lawyers had also dug up some facts about Akechi, which they had considered using in the trial until Ren asked them not to. They found that his father was unknown, and his mother had committed suicide when he was young. That he’d been in the care of the system until he began to make a name for himself as an idol when he was sixteen. He’d broken away from that oppressive role in college, applying himself instead to work with the police force. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Hearing all of that, Ren understood. He probably would have done the same, in Akechi’s shoes. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When they let him out, ten months after his initial arrest, he didn’t tell anyone he was on his way home. Any of the Thieves would have been glad to pick him up, but he didn’t want to see any of them. Not just yet. He still felt he’d let them down as their leader by following his fool heart when he should have been thinking of his team. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He stepped out of the gate to the jail, his duffel bag over his shoulder and his phone in his hand. He was about to call for a lift when a taxi pulled to a stop just in front of him. The back window rolled down and a familiar acerbic voice called out. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Get in already.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ren’s heart leaped into his throat. He peered through the open window to make sure he wasn’t imagining things. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Akechi looked back at him, mostly unimpressed, but with a slight smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You think I don’t keep track of when the criminals I put away are let out?” he asked. “I may have quit the police force, but I still keep an eye out.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ren grinned and got into the car. “Did you miss me?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Akechi rolled his eyes, but nothing could dampen Ren’s spirits, not when Akechi had come specifically to find him the moment he got free. It could only mean one thing. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Do you ever wonder what if?” Akechi said. “What if I weren’t a detective? What if you weren’t a thief?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t have to wonder,” Ren said. “I know what we could be.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Then he leaned across the space between them and stole a kiss.</span>
</p>
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